She lingered for about 15 minutes after her 12-minute speech, signing autographs and visiting with people on her way out of the Mahar Tool Supply Co. warehouse.

Cathy Leikhim, a campaign volunteer, shook the first lady's hand and got her autograph on Leikhim's ticket to the speech.

"I told her my nephew and niece wish she taught in their school. They live in West Virginia," Leikhim recalled.

"Gracious" was the adjective Leikhim and several others used when describing the president's wife.

Debbie Bartley-Ullom of Midland was chosen to be among the people greeting Laura Bush before the first lady's tour of the Mahar plant. The tour preceded her speech to about 175 people.

Bartley-Ullom has been a volunteer and coordinator of Bush-Cheney telephone banks on Tuesdays and Fridays in Midland.

The first lady always smiled and was "very gracious to everyone - and me just a little volunteer," Bartley-Ullom said.

Joni Farley, a phone bank volunteer, said she told the first lady that Farley's 7-year -old son, Zach, "said he didn't want John Kerry to be president because Kerry might not let him ride his bike on the sidewalk."

The first lady gave Farley four small pictures - including one of Barney, the Bush family dog - for the Farley children. Farley got the first lady's autograph on her red, white and blue ticket.

Because Farley's brother-in-law is in the military, the Farleys were on the stage behind the president during his July 4 speech in Charleston, W.Va. Daughter Jordan shook the president's hand. Zach "got to touch his pinkie" finger, Joni Farley said.

In Saginaw, "It was wonderful that she is here promoting businesses for women," said Farley, a first-time campaign volunteer.

"I'm in a family business, too," said the first lady - whose father-in-law was president and whose brother-in-law Jeb is Florida's governor.

First Lady Laura Bush poses for pictures after her speech at Mahar Tool Suppy Company Inc. in Saginaw Thursday afternoon.

Meeting people like Barbara Mahar Lincoln, Mahar Tool Supply Co.'s chief executive officer and president, is the best part of campaigning, the first lady said.

She added that Lincoln "had four small children at home" when Lincoln took the family company's reins after her husband's death in 1978. Lincoln, who had been involved in the company, "formed a group of advisers and went to work," the first lady said.

The company grew from 19 employees to about 125.

"Small business owners like Barbara are some of the hardest working people in America," the first lady said.

Women are opening U.S. businesses at twice the rate of men, she added.

The first lady said her husband believes everyone should have an equal opportunity to achieve their dreams, "and he's got three strong women at home who won't let him forget it."

The Bush's twin daughters, Jenna and Barbara, are recent college graduates who are helping in their father's re-election campaign.

Bush's administration has more women in senior positions than any of his predecessors', the first lady said.

"I thought she was awesome. What a lady," said Diane Bristol, chairperson of the Bush-Cheney campaign in Midland County, after the first lady's speech.

"Nobody can say anything bad about Laura Bush. She's a classy lady all the way around," said former Midlander Jeff M. Wagner of Saginaw, a volunteer who is communications coordinator in Saginaw County.

He promised the president and first lady he'd deliver Saginaw County votes, and "she thanked me for all the support," Wagner said.

Virginia Kuenker of Bay City, a member of Mothers for Bush, carried a "We Love Laura" sign toward the area where about 24 Kerry backers and Bush opponents were demonstrating before the first lady's speech. About eight people walked with Kuenker toward the demonstration site on Stephens Street, about a block away.

With her daughter Thalia Schiesswohl, 2, on her back, Margaret Schiesswohl protests outside Mahar Tool Supply Co. where First Lady Laura Bush spoke Thursday afternoon. Schiesswohl is part of a group called Women In Black that was started by Israeli and Palestinian women to protest war. The group has spread to nations all over the world calling for an end to war. The group in Saginaw holds a silent vigil in front of the Saginaw Courthouse on the second Monday of every month.

Former Marine Corps Reservist Van Collins of Saginaw wore a necktie and held a "Veterans for Kerry-Edwards" sign. He described himself as semi-active in the Democratic Party and said he'd responded to a Democratic phone call "saying they wanted people to present the other side of the issue."

"We love Teresa" read the sign held by Katheryn Albosta of Saginaw County's Thomas Township. Teresa Heinz Kerry is the Democratic presidential nominee's wife. Former U.S. Rep. Don Albosta is a cousin of Katheryn Albosta's father.

Some of the other signs read "U.S. out of Iraq;" "Bush lied; soldiers died;" "No more lies; we want jobs;" "Show us jobs, health care and peace;" "Stop exporting U.S. jobs;" and "Save the environment - plant a Bush back in Texas."

The environmental sign was held by Esmini Zubulake, who traveled about 65 miles from West Branch with her husband, Jim, a retired school superintendent.

Her husband said he has been writing letters to newspaper editors because "I got tired of hearing only part of the truth" in newspaper articles. He explained that when President Bush says the economy is getting better, Bush doesn't go back to the period before his administration.

The first lady said her husband's policies have added 1.3 million jobs in the past year nationwide.

The nation has lost 913,000 jobs since Bush took office, according to Labor Department statistics.

Michigan still is tied with Oregon for the nation's second-highest unemployment rate, at 6.8 percent.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. Copyright 2004 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.